In news International Tiger Day is celebrated on July 29 every year to raise awareness about the dwindling population of the Tiger.
It is the anniversary of the agreement of Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia in 2010.
At the Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010, leaders of 13 tiger range countries resolved to do more for the tiger and embarked on efforts to double its number in the wild, with apopular slogan ‘T X 2’.
It was declared by representatives that the tiger populated countries would make efforts to double the tiger population by the year 2022.
Tiger Conservation and India
India is the land of royal tigers and current tiger population stands at 2967 which is 70% of the global tiger population.
Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers at 526, closely followed by Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442).
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has launched the M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status), a mobile monitoring system for forest guards.
The Project Tiger, launched way back in 1973, has grown to more than 50 reserves amounting to almost 2.2% of the country’s geographical area.
Protection Status
Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.
IUCN Red List: Endangered.
CITES: Appendix I.
Do You Know?
As per the World Wide Fund for Nature, the number of tigers dropped by 95% over the past 150 years.
The Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) program of the World Bank, brought global partners together to strengthen the tiger agenda.
Over the years, the initiative has institutionalised itself as a separate entity in the form of the Global Tiger Initiative Council (GTIC), with its two arms –the Global Tiger Forum and the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program.
